Ever since I was a kid I always called this place Salmiya Plaza. Back in the 80s that’s where My Toy was located and that’s where the pastry shop we used to pass by to pick up finger food for birthdays and other events was located.
Today the place is still there but clearly looks like it isn’t being taken care of. I think that’s a shame since I believe this place has a lot of potential.
The plaza has a small parking right in front of it. You park your car and then walk up a few steps up onto a long shaded open corridor that separates the parking from the courtyard. It’s pretty nice since once you sit in the court yard you can’t see the cars. Around the courtyard in an L shaped layout lies all the shops. Each and every one of those shops overlook the spacious courtyard. Other than the parking spots in front of the plaza there is a huge lot behind the plaza where there is a wedding hall.
Imagine if this plaza was refurbished and trendy restaurants opened up over there. Imagine if Slider Station, Burger Hub, Zero, Pink Moon and Prime & Toast where actually all open there instead of their current location in the very tight Seef strip. I think it would have been a pretty cool place which is why I think this little plaza located off of Baghdad Street in Salmiya is a hidden gem.
Update: Here is a link to the location on Google Maps [Link]
27 replies on “Al Khalid Complex is a hidden gem”
Yeah I know and love that place too. Thats where I found Kaizen the only Japanese Rstaurant that plays lounge music. It was a nice place when they first opened up perfect for a quite romantic evening ..the standards have kinda dropped lately though.
Still dunno where this is :/
https://g.co/maps/dbs8y
You know where Mr Baker is at the end of Baghdad Street?? Or Kababji ?? well its located behind Mr Baker. Depends on where you are approaching from. If you are coming from Salmiya on the 4th Ring Road turn right after the gas station head straight to the Gulf Road. Kababji will be on your right at your 3’O’clock and Mr. Baker ahead of you at your 1’O’clock at the traffic light. After the traffic light head towards the Gulf road and turn right immediately after Mr.Baker;drive straight & Al Khaled Complex will be dead ahead in front of you.
Went there sometime ago, KDD has a outlet there. The rest of the joints I am not aware off. Definitely enjoyed the parking space; Not much crowd was a plus.
It’s for sure a gem place ! Who owns it ? He can turn that into something great !
yep, I remember that pastry place – Aalamiyah. One of the best pasrty shops during the 80’s early 90’s
Oh god no… I hope they never have more restaurants there. I live opposite and the crap we get from the wedding hall is ridiculous. Fresh is ok as is and Lorenzo will also open soon there
+1
Used to live around that area too, very peaceful place to have lunch, and easy access to the hairdresser too 🙂
Kaizen doesn’t have fresh food in that outlet tho..
Lorenzo? Which Lorenzo are we talking about?
Is Fresh resturant still there? I used to go there for lunch in the late 1990s.
Fresh is still there and it is still really good.
It’s a great place, I agree, and yes, Fresh is still there.
But think about it this way, does Salmiya deserve even more insane traffic?
Can you imagine the number of cars already cramping the area, doubled, or even tripled?
I’d rather it stayed old and unkempt.
I still go to that pastry shop every now and then, and old man works there who sweet talk to me all the time 🙂 go there and try their berak bel jebne.
Another important thing about that place is that theres an indian guy always standing in the corner selling dvds 😉 so my trip is to always get food and dvds.
The pastry shop isn’t there anymore. I think you’re talking about the first shop that also has shawerma. that’s a different place.
Kaizen is terrific, but always full of smokers and they don’t seem to have any ventilation. Fresh is excellent, although the service is patchy. Great little complex but it’s our private escape from the rest of the Salmiya madness, so don’t promote it too much!!! 😉
I love that place and I live closeby but I dont want it to turn into another seef. Qasar Al Bardawni’s traffic is more than enough. Imagine all the trendy places opening up there, its too much, the place cant handle all that traffic.
i think it should be able to handle the traffic since you have a main entrance from the gulf road and another from baghdad street. you also have easy exit back to the gulf road or back to baghdad street.
I agree amk.
@ Troy Wearer I totally agree about it being a private escape and not wanting it being promoted much… Kaizen used to be nice when me and the wife started dining there when they first opened up. The owner a lebanese guy used to be there in the evenings and he was a real gentelman. At first they had a NO Smoking rule then after a little while we noticed that there were a group of patrons who would always be there being loud and smoking away. When we asked the waitress to tell them it was rude to puff away so close to us while we were trying to enjoy our meal she told us that they were friends of the owner and were always around and she didnt want to risk her job. That said we made a note of this and made our displeasure known to the owner when we met him at a later ocassion. He just smiled at us apologised and assured that the next time there would be no repeatation. Come 2 weeks later same people show up while we are there and promptly proceeded to be loud, obnoxious and smoke away. Add to that for the first time since we started dining there the Nagiri that we ordered was not exactly fresh and had a weird taste. That just basically killed it for us. Like I said earlier their standards were not what they used to be.We tried their Avenues outlet and they were ok went back to Salmiya food was better but still the scourge of the smokers were there so we try to frequent place that enforce the no smoking law. Tatami so far has proven to be excellent in all regards.
My favourite japo restaurant is there, that is why I know the plaza so well. There are many “shames” in this country. We should open a page just to show pictures of the shit all around the city, parks, avenues, playgrouds (have you seen the ones in Rumaithiya?) too uch shame.
I used to live literally across the road from it, right next to Fat Boy before they demolished it! Was a great place growing up, had an amazing bakery.
Ohh i remember fat boy.. I lived just sround the corner growing up.. They had a great chili dog!
That pastry place was called golden corner.. Best pastries iv ever had! Also the video club used to be located there..
Golden Corner is still there. Used to have goo shawerma. The pastry place I’m talking about was like two shops down from Golden Corner.
Hi Mark,
Do you know Hue Flowers and Plants Company located in that place? I am going to work there hopefully soon.
nope i dont